Wednesday, 24 July 2013

WAYS OF SEEING: A memorable new photo exhibit showcases two artists at the top of their game

IN LIVING COLOUR: Dale's (above) and Baker's work depict life in all its fascinating guises.

Some fine examples of captivating photography populate the new exhibit Lens, Camera, Shoot! The Photographer's Intuitive Eye II, currently on view at Kingston's Bolivar Gallery, through the end of July.
Showcasing a selection of the latest works by increasingly popular Jamaican artists Varun Baker and Adrian Dale, the show's images draw in viewers with their mixture of arresting beauty, intrigue and a memorable meditation on the allure of the great outdoors. While Baker focuses his incantatory lens on nocturnal activities like lively dance sessions and free-spirited human behaviour, as depicted in his telling pieces "Wheelbarrow" and "Fire Gyal", Dale (with his 12-piece collection) reveals a taste for sumptuous detail featuring gorgeous landscapes and vibrant denizens of the animal kingdom. His egrets and butterflies, in particular, seem to leap from their frames.

Small in scale yet rich in scope and fascinating in subject, the exhibition (which debuted as part of the recent Kingston on the Edge festivities) is an unfussy triumph of craft and content and composition -- and a profound reminder of photography's singular power to mesmerize and transport.